Transtasman Political Letter – 18 May Digest

Thursday, 18 May 2006, 4:02 pm
Column: Trans Tasman

Transtasman Political Letter – 18 May (Budget 2006) Digest

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The following is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

This issue - 18th May 2006

Budget Time again for Michael Cullen, and speculation to the contrary, it’s unlikely to be his last
... Red faces all round when the budget leaker, a Beehive messenger, is uncovered
... “Gross and disgraceful dishonesty” the PM says
... But Michael Ryan has taken his place in NZ history and may have unhinged the Govt’s spin machine on the eve of pumping out the Budget message
... And did rising star David Cunliffe become a shooting star.

Politics Of The Budget

The Govt’s carefully themed strategy for this year’s budget was blown apart by the leak of a Cabinet document to Telecom.

Cunliffe Emerges From The Ruck

In pursuit of the economic transformation Helen Clark has set as one of her Govt’s goals in its third term, several Ministers have key roles, but the interesting development in recent weeks has been the emergence of David Cunliffe, particularly in shaping policy on unbundling the local loop.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Dalziel Leads Regulatory Review

A key building block in the Govt’s economic transformation programme is the review of the regulatory framework which Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel is leading.

Government Caves In To GPG

The Govt has caved in to pressure from the big London-based investment company Guinness Peat Group, and is amending the 2006 tax bill tabled in Parliament only on Wednesday of this week.

CAPITAL TALK

Has Aust PM John Howard been elevated to NZ status in US eyes? This is the question intriguing Washington diplomats after US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice toasted him as a “very very good friend” ...
Read on ... | More free articles ...

Play Of The Week: Failing In Its First Duty

The large gaps in NZ’s civil defence which have been exposed over the past two weeks should have every citizen alarmed.. Read on ...

Transtasman is a subscriber newsletter published weekly and read widely in New Zealand and abroad. The above is a summary of this week's edition. To subscribe and read the full newsletter see.. http://Transtasman.co.nz

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Did you know Scoop has an Ethical Paywall?

If you're using Scoop for work, your organisation needs to pay a small license fee with Scoop Pro. We think that's fair, because your organisation is benefiting from using our news resources. In return, we'll also give your team access to pro news tools and keep Scoop free for personal use, because public access to news is important!

Go to Scoop Pro Find out more

Find more from Trans Tasman on InfoPages.

Top Scoops Headlines

COMMENT

Gordon Campbell: On When Racism Comes Disguised As Anti-racism

The meaning of the word “racism” is being deliberately blurred, for political reasons. Lets re-state the obvious: when people are chronically experiencing worse social outcomes and lower life expectancy due to the colour of their skin, that’s

Peter Dunne: Newshub And TVNZ Tip Of Media Iceberg

There has been a positive but restrained response to the deal announced between Stuff and Warner Brothers Discovery to “save” TV3’s six o’clock nightly news bulletin, currently screened under the Newshub label. According to Stuff, the deal will mean that around 40 of the jobs involved can also be saved.

Harry Finch: Austerity – For And Against

It’s a word that politicians love to hate and as much as the current government is telling us that the measures they are taking don’t amount to austerity, by definition, they do. And as other commentators have noted, New Zealand has elected a government of austerity, so let’s weigh up the pros and cons.

Gordon Campbell: On Winston Peters’ Pathetic Speech At The UN

Tens of thousands of Gazans have been slaughtered, two million are on the brink of starvation and what does our Foreign Minister choose to talk about at the UN? The 75 year old issue of whether the five permanent members should continue to have veto powers over Security Council decisions.

Binoy Kampmark: Flicker Of Hope, Biden’s Throwaway Lines On Assange

Walking stiffly, largely distracted, and struggling to focus on the bare essentials, US President Joe Biden was keeping company with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, when asked the question. It concerned what he was doing regarding Australia’s request that the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange be returned to Australia.

Media Matters NZ: Here We Go Again

The News Makers are in the News again and this time because of mass layoffs laid on for the delectation of the staff involved, mainly news and current affairs people, which has, its fair to say, given them a thoroughly justified bellyache.

Join Scoop Pro

Submit News

Become a Member

Community Scoop

More RSS News Alerts

Wellington Scoop